Quick List For a Monday

Seasons

It rained last night.  It’s been a dry August (we won’t talk about May, June, July…or heck the rest of the year that was plenty damp)

It was nice to hear the clatter of drops in the dry grass, smell the summer dust sweeten, and listen to the crickets startle out of their song before piping up again.  I know it isn’t officially autumn for a couple more days, but today is the first day that really feels like the season has changed.

I love it.

Writing – Steampunk

I am working on TIN SWIFT and frankly, stuck on this frickin’ scene.  Usually when I can’t make a scene work, it’s because the conflict is missing, or I have the wrong characters on scene, or the tension is off.  For this scene, it feels like all of the above.  I’ve decided to just hack my way through it and fix it in revisions.  I always have a couple scenes like this one, and I can usually get them ironed out on a second go-through. Fingers crossed that’s true this time too.

Writing – Urban Fantasy

I turned in the revisions of MAGIC WITHOUT MERCY on Wednesday.  My amazing editor was amazing and got back to me by Friday (!).  She said it was wonderful and gave it a thumb’s up.  Yay!  I’ll next see that book in copy edits, then once more in proofs. The next book I write in the Allie Beckstrom series will be the last. Wow, I can’t believe Allie’s story is almost done.

Other Things

I think I’ve caught the MAD MEN bug.  I’m up to season three now.  It is a strangely hypnotic show.  I can’t seem to stop watching it even though I know no one will ever find their happily ever after.  Sharp writing, great acting, spot-on sets and wardrobe and an interesting (sometimes slightly horrifying) look into a bygone era.

A couple years ago, I caught an episode or two, and it didn’t really “click” with me. But starting from the first episode and watching them in order really hooked me into the characters and storyline.  One of those shows I’d recommend starting from the beginning.